ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the historical and contemporary bases for the designation ‘vitamins’ for a class of essential nutrients. It Identifies food sources of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins. Vitamins, along with minerals, are conventionally the two types of micronutrients. Both are important for optimised physical and mental functions, as well as in the prevention and treatment of various conditions and disorders. Vitamins (vital amines) and their metabolites are essential for a large number of physiological processes, playing important role(s) in various functions as hormones and antioxidants, as regulators of tissue growth and differentiation, in embryonic development and in metabolism, among others. Vitamins are usually classified according to their solubility in either fat or water. Fat soluble vitamins are A, D, E and K, and water-soluble vitamins include the B-complex vitamins and vitamin C. Fat soluble vitamins are present in a wide variety of foods. Vitamin A deficiency remains one of the world’s major nutritional problems.
